“Nobody uses water,” one man in a Dodgers cap said in Spanish when Maria Cabrera approached, holding flyers about silicosis, an incurable and suffocating disease that has devastated dozens of workers across the state and killed men who have barely reached middle age.
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The disease dates back centuries, but researchers say the booming popularity of countertops made of engineered stone, which has much higher concentrations of silica than many kinds of natural stone, has driven a new epidemic of an accelerated form of the suffocating illness. As the dangerous dust builds up and scars the lungs, the disease can leave workers short of breath, weakened and ultimately suffering from lung failure.
“You can get a transplant,” Cabrera told the man in Spanish, “but it won’t last.”
In California, it has begun to debilitate young workers, largely Latino immigrants who cut and polish slabs of engineered stone. Instead of cropping up in people in their 60s or 70s after decades of exposure, it is now afflicting men in their 20s, 30s or 40s, said Dr. Jane Fazio, a pulmonary critical care physician who became alarmed by cases she saw at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. Some California patients have died in their 30s.
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It isn’t enough to have an available MSDS. I’ve just watched some mandated training videos on this actually. OSHA requires the following (in addition to other unlisted things):
Workplace hazards need to be clearly communicated. This includes a translation into the language that the workers generally speak, if necessary.
MSDS don’t just need to be regularly available, the workers also have to be trained in reading them and where they are.
The employer must provide PPE that is in working order and fit to use. Workers need to be trained in how to use these as well.
It isn’t enough to say that the workers should have known. The employer has significant responsibilities above and beyond that. Even if the workers don’t know about the PPE or don’t want it, the company has to still provide it. The workers have to know that PPE is required for the work, why it’s required, and what could happen without wearing it. Most places I’ve worked wouldn’t even let you into the field nor a lab unless you met the requirements. It’s hard to say what’s company culture vs legally mandated however here – everywhere I’ve worked, someone would blanche and yell at you if you walked in with just your plain clothes. Even if the employees scoff at safety, the law doesn’t change. I suspect this is why employers typically make it company policy to wear the proper PPE – that, and the heightened scrutiny if something does actually happen.
Funny enough, almost all of this is based on those required trainings I mentioned. Part of the training is informing workers of all this.